Ashmore Shares Plunge After Its Clients Pulled $3.7 Billion
Ashmore Clients Pull $3.7 Billion From Its Funds in Three Months
(Bloomberg) -- Ashmore Group shares tumbled to the lowest in more than six years after the emerging market specialist said clients yanked $3.7 billion from its funds in the first three months of 2022.
The shares dropped as much as 9.2% in early London trading to the lowest level since February 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The firm said the outflows, together with negative investment performance, in the three months through March pulled down assets under management by $9 billion to $78.3 billion, according to a statement Thursday.
The London-based asset manager built up outsized exposure to Russian assets before the Ukraine war in its two biggest retail funds, Bloomberg reported last month. It is also the leading holder of dollar-denominated bonds issued by China Evergrande Group and its subsidiaries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“The war in Ukraine is a humanitarian tragedy that will have far-reaching consequences for the existing world order,” Ashmore’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Coombs said in the statement. Ashmore “is well positioned to understand and to act upon the current market volatility,” he said.
Institutional mandates accounted for the majority of the net redemptions, Ashmore said in the statement. Its shares were down 4% at 8:47 a.m. in London.
The asset manager was founded in 1992 as part of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and became independent seven years later. The vast majority of its assets are managed in segregated mandates and it also runs several funds available to retail investors.
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